Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Jul 31, 1:09 AM ET

MEOH max pain

Spot (delayed)$55.2
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$45-18.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.15±25.6% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI26.3138K puts / 1K calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3050.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$1.4Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$55-0.4%15d
Fri, Sep 18$40-27.5%43d
Fri, Oct 16$45-18.5%71d
Fri, Dec 18$45-18.5%134d
Fri, Jan 15$55-0.4%162d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45203550658095$85M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot4520304560759019K19K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MEOH open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

Open-interest change — building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration — the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot452030456075901010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot203550658095100%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 52.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 25203045607590+$857K$857K
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.0022.50.00220.02-0.01-0.03
0.96-0.00250.00280.03-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.01300.00470.04-0.01-0.06
0.90-0.01350.00730.06-0.01-0.09
0.85-0.01400.01080.08-0.02-0.15
0.78-0.02450.01500.10-0.02-0.22
0.68-0.02500.01900.12-0.02-0.31
0.58-0.02550.02170.13-0.02-0.42
0.47-0.02600.02240.14-0.02-0.53
0.37-0.02650.02140.13-0.02-0.63
0.29-0.02700.01920.12-0.02-0.71
0.23-0.02750.01670.10-0.02-0.78
0.18-0.02800.01420.09-0.01-0.83
0.14-0.01850.01190.08-0.01-0.87
0.11-0.01900.00990.07-0.01-0.91

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot254055708541K0
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot17.5254055708541K41K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 53K call contracts, 41K put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: MEOH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk